Crown of Midnight (TOG #2) & Queen of Shadows (TOG #4) Combined Mini Review

Crown of Midnight (TOG #2) and Queen of Shadows (TOG #4) by Sarah J. Maas

 

2013, 2015

Young adult fantasy

Spoilers! 

I originally wasn’t going to write a review for Crown of Midnight or Queen of Shadows, but after reading the books that followed them in the series, I decided I would post a mini review of each book because I will be posting a full review of all the other books.

Crown of Midnight

After winning the competition against other assassins, Celaena struggles to balance her role as the crown assassin with her own moral compass.

What I liked: The book is the beginning of Aelin, where we discover that Celaena has been hiding her identity as the half fae heir to the Terrasen throne. This revelation at the ending definitely made me more invested in the series.

What I disliked: My biggest issue with Crown of Midnight is how Nehemia, Celaena’s best friend and at this point in the series the only BIPOC character, is killed. While the reasons for her death are revealed in Empire of Storms (TOG #5), Nehemia never managed to feel larger than her role as a side character. Nehemia's overall role in the series was to advance Celaena’s character arc so she could achieve her fate, which I found disappointing considering how her outsider perspective of Adarlan brought a nice contrast to the story.

Rating 3/5: There’s not that much outstanding to say about the book. The only good thing is the mediocrity of Crown of Midnight makes Heir of Fire (TOG #3) so much fun to read.

Queen of Shadows

After learning to control her power, Aelin returns to Adarlan and with the help of her friends, attempts to uncover the King’s secret plans and bring magic back to Erilea.

What I liked: In this book, we finally learn about Celaena’s childhood and her training as an assassin. With Aelin’s identity now out in the open, I found her character and her backstory a lot more compelling. Furthermore, I liked the cast of characters in the book. 

What I didn’t like: The plot of the book was slow moving and I felt like I had to push through reading this more than I had to push to get through any of the other TOG books.

Rating 2/5: My least favourite book of the entire series. Despite enjoying some aspects of Queen of Shadows, I felt like it was basic fantasy, though the book did provide necessary information for the next book, Empire of Storms.

Overall thoughts

While I don’t think Crown of Midnight or Queen of Shadows are absolutely terrible, I do think these two books of the TOG series suffer from “sequel/middle book syndrome,” where they are only read because they act as a bridge to another book.